Just Purchased a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT This Morning!

[FJRPittsburgh]

I test rode a Tracer as well. I also rode the FJ09. The Tracer is a big improvement. The longer swing arm, better electronics package, and adjustable suspension are great. I really want one. I miss having a lighter bike. Yes, the FJR is a splendid tourer, but I would be just fine on the Tracer. I rarely ride 2-up though.My only complaint with the Tracer was the passenger pegs. Yamaha moved them down and forward, so they contacted my boot when I had the balls of my feet on the rider pegs.

Can you just take them off?

No, not without making some type of bracket. If you take off the rear peg, you lose the bracket for the side bags. I have a size 10 boot. The rear pegs don't interfere at all. A bigger sized boot probably would, but you would get used to it. Certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[draco_1967]

I test rode a Tracer as well. I also rode the FJ09. The Tracer is a big improvement. The longer swing arm, better electronics package, and adjustable suspension are great. I really want one. I miss having a lighter bike. Yes, the FJR is a splendid tourer, but I would be just fine on the Tracer. I rarely ride 2-up though.My only complaint with the Tracer was the passenger pegs. Yamaha moved them down and forward, so they contacted my boot when I had the balls of my feet on the rider pegs.

Can you just take them off?

No, not without making some type of bracket. If you take off the rear peg, you lose the bracket for the side bags. I have a size 10 boot. The rear pegs don't interfere at all. A bigger sized boot probably would, but you would get used to it. Certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker.

Yeah, it isn't a deal breaker for me either. I'm also 10-101/2. I just had to angle my feet a little differently than usual.

 

[ceddec]

Congratulations sir. I looked at one today and have gotten the urge. Do you know if a size large full face helmet will fit in the saddle bags? What is the inside width dimension/measurement?

 

[Fred W]

The old FJ-09 had the same bag mounts as the FJR1300. The bags they sold for that bike were narrower than the FJR, so would not fit a helmet in them. Some people would swap the FJR bags onto their FJ-09 when they wanted the bigger capacity. I don’t know if the new bike has the same bag mounts, but worth looking into. FWIW, the FJR side bags barely fit my size L Shoei Neotec.

 

[road runner]

Congrats Jeff. Nice bike.

 

[pierreroyoldtimer]

Just in case you ever want to install a Rostra electronic cruise control on your Tracer (if not factory equipped...) I will be happy to give you some tips for the installation, (if it is similar to a 2015 FJ09...) I made a throttle pulley extension lever that works beautifully for a FJ09.

 

[2wheels4fun]

I would consider this If only it had shaft or belt drive. I am though with chain maintenance due to limited time and tto many miles per year. Had a chain oilier but messy and temp changes requires adjustments.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Cruise control is stock, but I appreciate the offer. Great bike! Having a blast. My son Trevor and I will take turns riding it to EOM on Friday.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

I would love a shaft drive also, but the chain is hefty and requires little maintenance. Being that the bike has a centerstand, no biggie. Love the Tracer GT! Really a fun bike.

 

[sullivan]

Nice report, Pittsburgh. Regards in letting son ride it before you! Have fun at EOM (that I can't make it to).

 

[Teehaml]

I would consider this If only it had shaft or belt drive. I am though with chain maintenance due to limited time and tto many miles per year. Had a chain oilier but messy and temp changes requires adjustments.

I would love a shaft drive also, but the chain is hefty and requires little maintenance. Being that the bike has a centerstand, no biggie. Love the Tracer GT! Really a fun bike.

Congrats Jeff...

I am considering getting a new 900 GT. I've only had a belt drive Harley and the FJR so I don't have any chain drive maintenance experience. Excuse my ignorance but how does this work into a long multi day run over a couple thousand miles or more? The manual says check the chain condition and slack and lube every 600 miles. I guess you carry tools and stuff for this with you? I would hope the slack stays in spec longer than that.

 

[russperry]

I would consider this If only it had shaft or belt drive. I am though with chain maintenance due to limited time and tto many miles per year. Had a chain oilier but messy and temp changes requires adjustments.

I would love a shaft drive also, but the chain is hefty and requires little maintenance. Being that the bike has a centerstand, no biggie. Love the Tracer GT! Really a fun bike.

Congrats Jeff...

I am considering getting a new 900 GT. I've only had a belt drive Harley and the FJR so I don't have any chain drive maintenance experience. Excuse my ignorance but how does this work into a long multi day run over a couple thousand miles or more? The manual says check the chain condition and slack and lube every 600 miles. I guess you carry tools and stuff for this with you? I would hope the slack stays in spec longer than that.

Adjustments for chain tension are in my experience, extremely infrequent - as in almost never outside of your tire changes. Since you drop the chain with every tire change you're by default adjusting the chain slack at that point. Within the life of a tire you might have to adjust it once - I can't ever remember adjusting it twice within one rear tire life cycle.

Lubrication is another matter. I used to use the traditional lubes or chain wax and with those I would lube maybe every 1000 miles. The stuff is sticky and seems to adhere pretty well, but it makes a mess and builds up like crazy around the sprockets, the chain guides, and generally everywhere. About a year ago I decided to try WD-40 only. The chain stays very clean, but it also gets dry very quickly, so now I'm spraying the chain once a week, which for my commute is about every 300 miles. If you did this method on a touring kind of ride with maybe 500-1000 miles per day, I'd think you might want to spray it once a day. With a center stand this is extremely simple - without a center stand it would be a pain in the neck - possible but laborious.

 

[MCRIDER007]

To expand a bit on what russperry just posted, I think the biggest negative on using a chain for touring is the uncertainty of how long a chain will last and whether it will survive the next trip. Modern chains normally will last at least 20k miles, 30k is not uncommon, and I have heard of chains lasting 40k miles. Obviously, touring with a chain with less than 15k miles should not be a concern, the problem is that when you get close to 20k guessing the remaining chain life gets to be a bit of a crap shoot because once a chain loses its internal lubricant it will start to stretch and its remaining life is usually only 1000-1500 miles...which is really a problem if you are 500 miles into a 3000 mile trip. One solution is to replace the chain and sprockets at 20k if it needs it or not (about $300 for high quality chain and sprockets), another is to carry a very cheap chain as a spare to get you home.

I certainly prefer a shaft to chain drive but have never let a chain drive stop me from buying a bike I wanted....and most OEM chains have the 20k life.

 

[Teehaml]

I would consider this If only it had shaft or belt drive. I am though with chain maintenance due to limited time and tto many miles per year. Had a chain oilier but messy and temp changes requires adjustments.

I would love a shaft drive also, but the chain is hefty and requires little maintenance. Being that the bike has a centerstand, no biggie. Love the Tracer GT! Really a fun bike.

Congrats Jeff...

I am considering getting a new 900 GT. I've only had a belt drive Harley and the FJR so I don't have any chain drive maintenance experience. Excuse my ignorance but how does this work into a long multi day run over a couple thousand miles or more? The manual says check the chain condition and slack and lube every 600 miles. I guess you carry tools and stuff for this with you? I would hope the slack stays in spec longer than that.

Adjustments for chain tension are in my experience, extremely infrequent - as in almost never outside of your tire changes. Since you drop the chain with every tire change you're by default adjusting the chain slack at that point. Within the life of a tire you might have to adjust it once - I can't ever remember adjusting it twice within one rear tire life cycle.

Lubrication is another matter. I used to use the traditional lubes or chain wax and with those I would lube maybe every 1000 miles. The stuff is sticky and seems to adhere pretty well, but it makes a mess and builds up like crazy around the sprockets, the chain guides, and generally everywhere. About a year ago I decided to try WD-40 only. The chain stays very clean, but it also gets dry very quickly, so now I'm spraying the chain once a week, which for my commute is about every 300 miles. If you did this method on a touring kind of ride with maybe 500-1000 miles per day, I'd think you might want to spray it once a day. With a center stand this is extremely simple - without a center stand it would be a pain in the neck - possible but laborious.

Thank you russperry!!

 

[Teehaml]

To expand a bit on what russperry just posted, I think the biggest negative on using a chain for touring is the uncertainty of how long a chain will last and whether it will survive the next trip. Modern chains normally will last at least 20k miles, 30k is not uncommon, and I have heard of chains lasting 40k miles. Obviously, touring with a chain with less than 15k miles should not be a concern, the problem is that when you get close to 20k guessing the remaining chain life gets to be a bit of a crap shoot because once a chain loses its internal lubricant it will start to stretch and its remaining life is usually only 1000-1500 miles...which is really a problem if you are 500 miles into a 3000 mile trip. One solution is to replace the chain and sprockets at 20k if it needs it or not (about $300 for high quality chain and sprockets), another is to carry a very cheap chain as a spare to get you home.

I certainly prefer a shaft to chain drive but have never let a chain drive stop me from buying a bike I wanted....and most OEM chains have the 20k life.

Thank you MCRIDER007 !!

 

[Fred W]

Im a bit tired of hearing how horrible chain maintenance is. Really? Mostly it comes from people who havent owned a bike with a drive chain in modern history. Honestly, Im more worried about tires making it through a trip than the chain and sprockets. How many people have had trips interrupted by worn out tires vs worn out chain. I dont know a single case of the latter, but know of dozens of cases of the former.

As for the grueling lubrication maintenance ritual, you can either do it or not, and it doesnt really seem to make a huge difference in the chain longevity. The sprockets may wear out a bit earlier if the alignment isnt perfect, but with modern o-ring chains the chain is good for 20-30k miles as long as you dont frig around with it too much.

If you have a center stand, and learn how to do it with the bike running, it takes literally 30 seconds, and if you use a self cleaning lube like DuPont Teflon chain saver, you never have to scrub it, which is really the worst thing you can do to it anyway. Pushing the spooge and grit under the orings with a scrub brush is a sure way to kill it.

 

[hppants]

I'm with Fred on this one. The "lubrication" is under the O-rings. I think for the most part, the sprockets technically last longer than the chain, but good practices dictate that you should replace the sprockets with the chain anyway. So, overly cleaning and "lubing" the chain just to extend the life of the sprockets doesn't seem to make the juice worth the squeeze.

When I had chain bikes (within the o-ring period), after the bike was washed, I'd spray some WD40 VERY lightly on the chain, and grab the chain with a clean rag, and spin the tire one full revolution of the chain. I really don't know why I was doing that - just concerned about the wet chain sitting there and rusting.

Agree with Russ re: adjustments. I don't remember adjusting the chain, although it does loosen up during the last 25% of its service life. I always kept my chain on the loosest end of the acceptable range. Give the suspension some room to compress without stretching the chain. Adjust the chain when it is cold.

I'm thinking about a lot of bike options going forward further down the road. Adding a bike. Adding two bikes. Changing to a lighter bike. Nearly all of those options involve a chain driven bike.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

What they said. Chain drive requires little maintenance these days. Love the Tracer GT!

 

[FJRay]

Another advantage for you picky guys is a properly adjusted chain transfers HP more efficiently than a shaft driving around 90 degree bends.

 

[russperry]

What they said. Chain drive requires little maintenance these days. Love the Tracer GT!

Your excitement for the Tracer GT has me thinking of cashing in two of my current bikes for one - the FJR and Ninja 1000. Wife would be happy in reducing my inventory by 1 (from 6 to 5), and I'd be happy to replace an '08 and a '14 for a '19! Cruise control, heated grips, traction control, slipper clutch, LED lights would all be nice upgrades to what I've got on my current bikes as well....

BugNatr's lust for an S1000XR had me thinking that route, but the entry ticket is so high and the damn vibration that everyone complains about has turned me off to it. The Tracer seems like a better fit at a much more reasonable price tag.